SEOUL, Sept 23 — The CEO of a South Korean lithium battery maker was sentenced to 15 years in prison today over a factory fire that killed nearly two dozen workers last year.
The Suwon District Court handed down the lengthy term to Aricell CEO Park Soon-kwan, saying the company’s practices had prioritised profit over worker safety, according to court documents seen by AFP.
The June 2024 fire at the lithium battery plant killed 23 people, most of whom were Chinese nationals, in one of South Korea’s worst industrial disasters in years.
Park was sentenced for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Industrial Safety and Health Act, the court documents said.
“A critical factor was that the emergency exit route was located in an area normally off-limits to dispatched workers, which became one of the main reasons they lost their lives,” said the court.
Park’s son, who served as the company’s general manager, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined one million won (RM3,000).
The court also said that Park “gave almost no instructions on worker safety” and
focused solely on business performance reports from his son.
“This fire was not an unforeseeable misfortune but a disaster that could have erupted at any time,” said the court.
“Behind it lies the grim reality of an industrial structure that prioritises production and profit over worker safety, as well as the precarious conditions faced by dispatched labourers.”
Prosecutors had charged Park with failing to conduct inspections of “hazardous and harmful risk factors” and not preparing safety manuals to respond to serious accidents.
They also blamed the company’s “gross” safety failures for the deadly blaze, including a locked door that worsened casualties.
At his final hearing in July, Park apologised to the families.
“On that painful day, many people lost their precious family members. No words can be enough, but once again I apologise to the bereaved families,” he said. — AFP
